Glossary of Cigar Terms

Lathe

A wooden pole, also known as a cuje (COO-hey), used to hang freshly harvested tobacco leaves in a curing barn, or casa de tabacco (see photo). Some less advanced versions use wooden strings, known as sartas. The tobacco is held to the sarta, cuje or lathe using string that is sewn through each leaf. Most countries sew the leaves by hand, but in Connecticut the process is done via a special sewing machine.